Once upon a time, long after the world was created, a strange creature emerged. Mankind arrived on earth at a time when there was plenty of fertile land providing sustenance and habitation. The land could produce the food needed. Water abounded containing unlimited sources of fish protein. The basic element for existence was the oxygen in the air. The needs for all were served by these, the commons.

The first of these to disappear from general usage was land. History informs us that when the white man arrived on this continent land was acquired for a handful of beads. The residents of this new land were quite happy with the arrangement because they had nothing to lose. It was obvious land was for everyone’s benefit. They had no concept of legal ownership.

Though most of the habitable land has been converted to private use much of the northern part of the continent remained as crown land. It should be no surprise that this was taken over by a structure called government presumably to be managed on our behalf. Technically most of northern Canada is actually ours as public or common land. In their wisdom our representatives delegated responsibility for managing much of this to the private sector, or more to the point to industry. Technically only the forest was turned over to industry but trees grow on land. Control of the one in essence meant control of the other. Unfortunately ‘industrial land’ has meant access restrictions for residents practicing hunting, trapping and fishing.

Industrial use of our forest lands resulted in large scale harvesting of trees for lumber or pulp and paper production. Since nature abhors a vacuum, most of the forest land regenerated to tree cover which, though often of secondary commercial value, at least served ecological purposes. Our northern forests benefited society through protection of a water reservoir, the mainstay of our lakes and rivers and particularly the Great Lakes. Via Niagara Falls we all have benefited from a supply of reasonably priced electricity. From that point of view forests continued to act as ‘commons’.

For the individual however, water’s greatest importance is for drinking and cooking purposes. Unfortunately this is also a valuable means for disposal of industrial wastes. Mining and pulp manufacturing processes require large quantities of water for their chemical mixes. Waste chemicals have poisoned many sources of potable water for downstream communities. Many lakes are now devoid of fish, another hardship for northerners. On a broader scale, eventual outflows have also poisoned sections of the Great Lakes.

Much of the earth’s surface is occupied by oceans which at one time supported large fish populations. Governments have delegated the harvesting of fish to private companies. As fishery technology evolved the use of kilometer long nets dragged the bottom not only decimating aquatic populations but also scraped the ocean bed destroying aquatic habitat. The result: the loss of our east coast cod industry and apparently the same for salmon production on the Pacific side of the continent. Another of the ‘commons’ is becoming lost to mankind.

The primary human resource is oxygen. The atmosphere is another dumping ground for industrial wastes causing massive pollution. The best known misuse is the production of greenhouse gases trapped in the atmosphere causing global warming. Human beings also suffer from poor air quality. The incidence of asthma particularly among young people is increasing at an alarming rate. Medical authorities attribute about 1500 premature deaths annually in the city of Toronto to polluted air quality causing respiratory diseases. Society as a whole must shoulder a large part of the blame for misuse of our most important ‘common’ due to exhaust fumes from vehicles.

We have been blessed with many common resources, provided for the free use of each and every one of us. Over the years we have sat back and watched the ever increasing misuse of each of them or been actively involved in their destruction. The future of mankind lies in the continued supply of oxygen, food and water. We have done our best to destroy that on which we are dependant. What does this portend for our children and their offspring?